"Teacher"

What does this word evoke for you?

For me, initially, I think of educational teachers; teachers who helped me in my formative years and they taught me how to multiply, learn new words, and discover new interests. These are the teachers I had during my first 5 years of education at a small school in rural Oregon. My class was only about 15 kids total and it meant we had a lot of one-on-one time with teachers.

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What I remember most from elementary school happened in second grade with Mrs. Bailey. We had a multiplication table competition - rocketship style.

image source: Pixabay

There was a big poster board and each student had their name on a small rocket ship. We were given 2 minutes to complete a page of multiplication, and if we finished in time, we got to move our rocket closer to the planet at the top of the board. I loved everything about that poster board.

In the 6th grade, we moved out to another rural school because my parents heard it was an excellent school district. The teacher that influenced me the most was my music teacher Mr. Welch. I learned to play the trumpet and discovered a love of music while under his amazing guidance. I still bump into him occasionally in town, and it's always fun to catch up. He still plays french horn in the local symphonic band.

This love of music continued into my high school years where I once again found an amazing teacher in the music department. Mr. Wiggins. I joined the jazz band, playing trumpet, and was also playing trumpet in the symphonic band. We had a plethora of trumpets and he suggested I try the French horn. Most of the horns would be graduating that year and he needed to beef up the section. Oh. My. Word. I fell deeply in love with the rich sound of the French horn. Since it has similar fingerings and embouchure to the trumpet, I picked it up quickly. The biggest difference is, you use your left hand to push the keypads down on the French horn, and trumpet uses the right hand.

image source: Pixabay

My entire high school experience revolved around the music department and the inspiration Mr. Wiggins instilled in us. My senior year, I took 3 music classes: 1st chair trumpet in the top jazz band, Solar Jazz, 1st chair French horn in Wind Ensemble, and an independent music study class to focus on practicing more. Mr. Wiggins had an energy around him, a passion for music that inspired me to do better, practice more, and be the best musician I could be. He passed away at age 55, the year after I graduated. We were all devastated and I felt my heart break, I still get emotional thinking about him and I miss him very much. His memorial service overflowed the gym at the high school and it was very apparent that he had touched the lives of many music students throughout his career.

I continued with music at a local community college, but then, due to financial reasons, had to discontinue my studies for a few years. I sold my trumpet and French horn, and got a job. 6 years later I started college again at the age of 25. I had many teachers, but Chuck Hunt stood out as someone who opened my eyes to the world. He taught Sociology and told us things about the United States and what they do in the world… told us things that blew my mind – like the number of countries we have bombed over the years. At that time, it was 67! He definitely taught me to research and look deeper into issues that what is presented at the superficial level.

image source: me

My Bachelor’s of Science took me 11 years to get, but I did get it eventually, partly due to having 3 kids during those years. My degree is in Digital Art and the last teacher that inspired me to work harder and do better work, was Ty. She was hip, sassy, and a damn good artist. She always had valuable feedback on projects and didn’t GAF about calling kids out when they were being disruptive, mainly during lectures. Thank you Ty!!

Now that I have children, I encounter teachers in a different way. I get to see them teaching my children the same formative topics. My children have a slightly different addition to their early education; my daughter Lily, 4th grade, is learning Japanese by 50/50 immersion at a public school. They get 1/2 their day in English and 1/2 their day in Japanese. My 5 year old, Aliyah, will start kindergarten this September at the same school and Lily will be in the 5th grade.

image source: Pixabay

I get to have parent/teacher conferences, talk about progress and brainstorm ways she can do better in school. She was struggling with the new way math is being taught. Common Core is no joke, ya’ll. Lily’s English teacher, Ashley Sensei, had to explain to me that the curriculum has flaws in it, and she does all the problems herself first to find the mistakes. She does this so the students can ACTUALLY do the problems. She goes above and beyond to try and make the Common Core math viable for the kids. She deserves all the gold stars for her efforts. What is really interesting is, half way through the year, the 4th graders switch from math being taught in English – to math being taught in Japanese. Lily told me it was easier for her to do math in Japanese! I wonder if this is because the Japanese curriculum hasn’t been translated into the Common Core method of math yet? It is hard to tell because I don’t speak Japanese.

Thinking even wider about the word "teacher" I have to say that everyone I encounter in this world can ‘teach’ me something. For example...

My kids teach me:

• Patience
• Minecraft tricks
• How to hide vegetables in food
• The value of goofing off
• Snuggles can happen anytime
• Hands are broken when the toilet paper runs out
• There is always time to bake cookies
• Life is short, enjoy it

My friends teach me:

• the value of listening
• we can disagree, but are still friends
• new recipes
• restaurants to avoid because they use peanut oil (Aliyah is very allergic)
• Isolation is no fun – go out – have that drink with friends

Strangers teach me:

• It’s ok to let a merging car in
• Smiling at someone can improve their day
• Holding the door for someone is appreciated
• Everyone has moments of insanity – I’m not the only one

Teachers are all around us, if we pay attention. It’s up to us to be looking for those moments of instruction and to decide if we want to continue learning or if we are going to close our minds off to those teachers.

Have you had someone in your life become an unexpected teacher? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to have a great day!